Businesses added 176,000 jobs in August, payroll processor ADP said Thursday, raising hopes that the Labor Department's closely-watched employment report Friday will show that job growth has bounced back somewhat after weakening recently.

Economists expected ADP to report 180,000 additional jobs, according to a consensus forecast. They anticipate that the government will report similar gains in its survey, which tallies net job gains among businesses as well as federal, state and local governments.

Midsize business added 74,000 jobs; small businesses, 71,000 and large companies, 32,000. That marks a possible shift — small firms had solidly led job gains much of the year.

Among industry sectors, professional and business services added 50,000 jobs, followed by trade, transportation and utilities with 40,000. Manufacturers added 5,000 jobs, underscoring that the industry continues to be affected by federal spending cuts and the eurozone's economic downturn. Construction companies added 4,000.

"It is steady as she goes in the job market," says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, which helps ADP conduct the survey. "There is little evidence that fiscal austerity and health care reform have had a significant impact on the job market."

Employment has generally proved resilient despite the federal cuts and a January payroll tax increase, though the austerity has impacted the economy and payrolls in recent months.

Monthly job growth has averaged about 192,000 so far this year, but the pace has slowed recently, according to the Labor Department.

ADP has a mixed record as a gauge of what the government will report. Last month, it estimated that businesses added 200,000 jobs in July, while Labor reported just 161,000 new private-sector jobs, and 162,000 total additional jobs, including government.

Since Moody's Analytics began working with ADP to compile the survey 10 months ago, the average discrepancy between the two survey estimates has been 39,000 — better than the 62,000 difference in the previous 10 months, according to an analysis by High Frequency Economics. ADP says it attempts to match the government's final revised tally of job gains, which comes two months after the initial estimate.